Tom Gilmer: November 2013 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends of Zion:

Thank you for praying and giving so that our work might continue.

Benjamin, the young Hebrew Christian mentioned in our July prayer letter, is now in Israel, seriously considering making aliyah (immigration).  At the airport as he was leaving, the Lord opened the opportunity for Pastor Alexandre and me to give an extended, cordial witness to Benjamin’s father, a politician.  I had met him at civic events and given him tracts on previous occasions.  When we met Benjamin, he and his father were not on speaking terms.  The Lord used us to help Benjamin understand that the problem was not just religious persecution, but other matters he needed to settle with his father.

A week after Benjamin left, I took Linda to meet his mother, who has a small clothing store.  It was Linda’s 70^th birthday.  We had been praying about the best time and place to meet her.  The timing was just right. The changes she had seen in Benjamin’s attitudes made her open to our witness.  On the one hand, it was good that she was alone so we could talk freely.  On the other hand, we wished other customers would come in!  Most Jewish shop owners are superstitious and think a customer has brought good luck if other customers come in after he or she has entered the store.  Before we knew this, we would pray that no one would come in when we were talking to a Jewish merchant.  We now ask the Lord to send some “interrupters” to buy something!

Our 12-hour marathon on Linda’s birthday (10/ 22) mixed ministry and celebration!  We went to a photo studio, had pictures made, lunched out, visited Benjamin’s mom, did a little shopping, cashed at an ATM machine to pay some bills, and checked up on a couple of other Jewish contacts.  To spice up the day, we met a Chinese family that is related to Christian Chinese people we knew when we first came to Brazil and had a great time catching up on news and encouraging this young family in their Christian walk.

By January we hope to have new letterhead with our new photograph, which has not been retouched, so you can see how we really look!  We will endeavor to send you a PDF high resolution file of our picture in various formats from which you can print a copy for your missionary display or prayer cards or use in Power Point.  Please send an E-mail address to which the file should be sent, if you do not receive this prayer letter by E-mail or prefer the photos be sent to a different address.

I trust you read in Harold Ralph’s prayer letter about his upcoming trip to the London and USA offices of the Trinitarian Bible Society. He will also fly to Korea to be present as printing is begun on a special edition of the Bible at a lower price and higher quality than is available in Brazil.   We must take advantage of this rare moment that he is in the US to go with him to a bank in Texas to sign some papers related to our work fund account, which must be done in person.  Thus, we will be in the States for part of December.  For the first time since 1999, our entire family will be in the same country together.  With five additions to our family since then, this will be the only time all 23 of us (we, our children and grandchildren) have been together anywhere and the first time in 23 years that our four children will be together for Christmas.   We will visit some churches on our flight path , which have been wanting a visit for a long time. We will return to Brazil for New Year’s, God willing.

Thanks again for your prayers. God bless you!

Yours for the Messiah,
Tom and Linda Gilmer